News Releases

05-07-2015 - London Flight on Thomas Cook is Cancelled

May 8, 2015

(Reno, NV) - Thomas Cook Airlines is cancelling the non-stop flight between London and Reno that was announced last November and scheduled to begin service Dec. 19, 2015.

“Factors beyond the control of the airport, the tourism partners supporting the flight and Thomas Cook Airlines have led to a cancellation of the service,” Andy Wirth, President/CEO of Squaw Valley Holdings and Vice Chairman of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said.

Thomas Cook Airlines is contacting customers that booked the new flights to offer a full refund and to advise them on alternative travel.

“Unfortunately, we can confirm that we have had to cancel our planned new route from London Gatwick to Reno/Lake Tahoe in the USA which was due to commence in December 2015,” Nick Sandham, spokesman for Thomas Cook, said. “This is as a result of information we have received from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that, despite their number of staff being increased at the airport, our customers are likely to still receive substantial delays of at least three hours to clear US Customs. Such inconvenience for our customers and the impact on our fleet and operation that would take place in accepting these delays, means that we are unable to operate the route at present.”

The flight between London Gatwick Airport and Reno-Tahoe International was announced Nov. 4, 2014. It was scheduled as twice weekly service on an Airbus 330 with 322 seats. Ski Lake Tahoe and a group of tourism partners in the region helped create a consortium to help support the Thomas Cook flight.

While losing the London flight is a set-back, air service in the Reno-Tahoe region has strong momentum in 2015.

“We are excited to be planning major launch events in both New York and Reno for the new non-stop service to New York on JetBlue that begins May 28,” Marily Mora, President/CEO of Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said. “Our new twice weekly service to Guadalajara, Mexico is doing extremely well. The region is unified and well positioned to achieve more air service success.”

Thomas Cook Airlines will be contacting customers over the next two weeks regarding refunds.